“Gold Standard Love” is the latest single from Dion Lunadon. It comes out as a limited edition 7″ flexi disc inside the Fall issue of America’s only Rock ‘n’ Roll magazine, CREEM. 100 flexi’s inside 100 copies.
150 copies will be available only at shows while stocks last.
“Gold Standard Love” is a futuristic rocker that crackles and grooves out of a thought crime, foregoing any current trends within the 2025 rock ’n’ roll genre.
“The FBI, The CIA, can’t take my dreams away, will you supply, GOLD STANDARD LOVE”.
The debut album from Irish / Portuguese quintet pôt-pot, Warsaw 480km, is an album about feeling adrift during dark hours but also knowing that light eventually will come.
Lead singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist Mark Waldron-Hyden wrote most of the album while bouncing around different landscapes and residences…all the while dealing with grief over the death of his father. What emerged was a pretty damn cool post-punk / krautrock / Ennio Morricone (and, believe it or not, James Brown)-inspired album.
“22° Halo” opens the record with a fierce bass lick from Joe Armitage and guitars that you think are going to overwhelm you for a moment but then fade into the shadows. “Sextape” started out as a jam session and became your next favorite song to put on a psych-rock mixtape. The blend of male and female harmonies between Waldron-Hyden and Elaine Malone and Sara Lelsie and near-surf rock guitars from Waldron-Hyden and Mykle Oliver Smith are instantly hypnotizing, and Malone’s harmonium is like incense in your meditation chamber.
“WRSW” was inspired by the road sign mentioned in the album’s title as Waldron-Hyden was riding in a car with his father’s ashes. As the story goes, he saw the sign emerge along the road on a dark night and it gave him the sense that he’d get through both the night and his grief (even in the latter would remain to some degree for a lifetime). The upbeat krautrock rhythm gives you (and Waldron-Hyden) the power to keep moving forward. “Fake Eyes” is a haunting track that seems to just…hover.
The press release I received for Warsaw 480km mentions how “I AM!” is indebted to Lou Reed. That’s correct, as it sounds like a groovy Velvet Underground track you forgot existed. Waldron-Hyden’s swaggering beat on “Can’t Handle It” reminds me of Cramps records – as do the repeated lyrics of “Tell me, baby, do you feel all right? Tell me, baby, would you take my life? Because I just can’t handle it.”
The guitar work on “The Lights Are On” is a great mix of psych-garage and dark country twang. “Hot Scene” continues that Morricone influence and adds a bit of Delta 5 post-punk flair as it builds to a loud buzz in your head. The album ends with “Change Your Life,” which could be a suggestion made by Waldron-Hyden to us, a friend, a lover, or himself. I’m not sure…or if it matters.
What does matter is that you give this album a spin. It’s a great debut and portends more good things to come from them.
Today, Grayson Capps releases “My Body.” It’s the first new song in eight years from the beloved Alabama singer/songwriter. In the interim, Capps has remained active, continuing to play upwards of 150 shows a year and releasing both a retrospective collection, South Front Street, and the album, Heartbreak, Misery & Death, a collection of folk and traditional songs originally performed by Doc Watson, Jerry Jeff Walker, Randy Newman, and others. He stepped back from recording his own material, however, instead devoting his time to raising his two children and caring for his father, who passed away last year after a long decline. With “My Body,” Capps jumps back into the fray via a snarling, electrified protest song rooted deep in the Southern Gothic where his most enduring work takes shape. Its release is accompanied by a lyric video filmed by Trina Shoemaker and created by Gregory Del Deo.
“The seed of this song began from a young lady’s perspective living in the state of Alabama in 2025,” explains Capps. “More broadly, it speaks for the tolerant and empathetic people of the world who are being pushed into a corner against their will and the collective need to stand up to malevolence.”
In the climactic closing verse, Capps simultaneously reflects and declares: “I was traveling around Ocala, Florida, around two in the morning and saw a sign, and it was confusing. It said, ‘God, guns, guts, and glory are what made this country great,’ and I’m thinking to myself, ‘God, guns, guts, and glory are the very words that make men hate.’”
Born in Alexandria, Virginia, growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina, and coming of age in New York City, Zion Battle makes music as Katzin.
Drawn to music from a young age, beginning with the music he witnessed at church (his father is a theologian and priest), he was fascinated with the sound of good records. He wasn’t sure how to go about replicating these sounds, but started early figuring it out: At 13, he began writing and recording his own music, and at around 15, he became a part of a teenage music scene of bands playing New York City basements, rooftops, and wherever they could turn up the volume without (or with) the threat of being shut down.
He went on to study music at both CalArts and the New School, before electing to take a break from his studies when he signed to the Brooklyn independent label Mexican Summer (Jessica Pratt, Cate LeBon, Hayden Pedigo) earlier this year.
Today, Katzin is sharing “Anna,” first taste of his forthcoming, yet-to-be-announced debut album.
Battle wrote “Anna” during his freshman year at CalArts. As he settled into college, he was struck by how the people around him sometimes struggled to adjust to their new lives, and often mourned the adolescence they’d left behind. Weaving together guitar, banjo, and synths beneath Battle’ssearching vocals, “Anna” is a sensitive portrait of young people making room for new realities as their old attachments fall away.
Battle says of the track: “Anna is a song about distant lovers — growth in distance. To be ‘off and on’ can feel like endless torture. But there’s nothing more euphoric than to run back into the arms of something so familiar.”
Osees‘ latest (Their thirty-second?) album, Abomination Revealed at Last, is a rager against the current state of affairs in the U.S.: Trump, religious leaders, tech companies, you name it – all of them are smacked around by John Dwyer and his crew.
The opener, “Abomination,” sounds like early Devo at times and near-thrash metal at others as Dwyer sings / yells about our phones poisoning us and horrible things corrupting us with violence. “Sneaker” has Tim Hellman alternating his bass riffs from funk to fury while Dwyer sings about how insidious everything seems and feels now. “I don’t buy that you have words with God,” Dwyer says on “God’s Guts,” giving televangelists and religious hypocrites a punch in the gut.
“Infected Chrome” might be an Osees tribute to Chrome (whom they’ve covered many times) and a cry for everyone to wake up and maybe take a look around with sober eyes for a change (“Can we not drive around on a dope run?”). Dwyer’s solo on it is short and superb, as it is on “Glue” (A love song! Well, a song about obsession, I suppose.). “Ashes 2” has Osees warning us of “a quiet overthrow” and how people obsessed with politicians can’t see how those they idolize and worship are screwing over all of us.
“Coffin Wax” is a karmic warning to those same politicians and has Paul Quattrone and Dan Rincon going nuts on their drum kits while Tom Dolas creates a freaky synth sound around them. Quattrone and Rincon continue their bonkers assault on “Ashes 1” and “Fight Simulator” (in which Dwyer tells you it’s his – and our – responsibility to tell you what’s wrong with the world). On “Protection,” they call out Mark Zuckerberg, (“Fuck Zuck.” is the first lyric.), Elon Musk, and “Emperor” (You probably can guess.), letting them all know “Revolution’s coming!”
“Glass Window” (which, to my delight, contains a Suspiria reference) is a call-out to folks younger than Dwyer who are too busy being distracted to be enraged at what’s happening around them. For example, the entire subject of “Glitter-Shot,” in which Dwyer reminds us “We are info. We are bait…They own our memories and DNA.” and that “Lies keep the Capitol alive. The tyrant needs attention to survive.” It’s a great closer, with Dwyer’s vocals almost a soapbox rant with a rock-solid groove behind them.
It’s another winner from Osees, and I can’t help but think the title infers it’s a sequel to 2015’s Mutilator Defeated at Last – which had songs named after horrible monsters and references to death. “Mutilator’s” identity might be a few people or institutions from a decade ago, but it’s easy to figure out who and what the “Abomination” is. It’s not Emil Blonsky. It’s someone you see on TV or your phone every day.
An acquaintance once described Castle Rat‘s music as “the feeling of opening my (Dungeons & Dragons) Player’s Handbook for the first time.” He’s correct. Into the Realm feels exactly like that.
The opening riffs of “Dagger Dragger” alone are enough to hook you as you and your party of first-level fighters, clerics, magic-users, and thieves head out on a quest given to you (and the band) by an ancient wizard. The Rat Queen herself, Riley Pinkerton, sings about fighting demons and, thanks to Henry Black‘s massive guitar riffs, you have great confidence about the fight ahead. “Feed the Dream” is great Sabbath-inspired doom. After the brief, bass-led (Ronnie Lanzilotta III) instrumental of “Resurrector,” “Red Sands” creeps up on you like a foreboding wind across a dune and then hammers you like a sandstorm.
“The Mirror” is another short instrumental, perhaps luring you with its bright surface and mysterious sights within it before “Cry for Me” gets hold of you and puts you in a trance. You apparently didn’t make your saving throw versus spells. Pinkerton’s vocals on it are haunting.
After another brief instrumental interlude (“Realm”), Joshua “The Druid” Strmic‘s drums unload on “Fresh Fur” behind Pinkerton’s screams and calls for warriors to charge behind her. The album ends with the massive “Nightblood” – bringing together the band’s love of fantasy, doom, and a bit of prog-rock.
It’s a great first campaign for you, involving magic daggers, cursed mirrors, bloody battles, and cryptic visions. Roll for initiative!
I hadn’t been to Indianapolis’ Old National Centre since it was called the Murat Temple Theatre…and that was sometime in the 1990s. Entry was quick, and the woman checking IDs and handing out “21+” wristbands told us, “Straight ahead and down the stairs.” I figured Osees were playing in the large performance space in the building. I figured wrong. They were playing two floors below street level in a room the size of an average wedding reception hall.
Stone pillars on the mosh pit’s four corners.
Low ceilings, no windows, two entrances / exits, and a lot of people. My first thought was, “It’s going to be loud as hell in here.” I also saw many people who weren’t well dressed for an Osees show, possibly because they’d never seen them live before now. There were women in high heels, men in hooded sweatshirts and stocking caps, and a majority of the crowd without earplugs.
My prediction about the volume immediately was proven correct when, all the way from Japan, DMBQ took the stage to open the show and unloaded a crazy set of noise / kraut / punk / acid jazz / chaos. Lead guitarist and singer (and journalist) Shinji Masuko) was a wild man, drooling, slapping and punching himself, kicking the air, and creating a collapsing wall of sound while drummer Shinji Wada played stuff that would make many prog-rock drummers jealous and bassist Maki was a cool anchor the entire time. Again, you could tell that most of the crowd had no idea how to react to so much sound in such a small space. They had a lot of new fans by the end of their set.
Dynamite Masters Blues Quartet
Osees came out almost immediately after DMBQ finished crushing us, set up their gear, and started their wild, sweaty set at 9:01pm. Any place is a good place to see Osees, but a small space like the one we were in is perfect. The band and their fierce, energy is right there and it almost overpowers you.
A rare calm moment.
They tore through favorites like “Carrion Crawler,” “The Dream” (during which I started the crowd surfing, you’re welcome Indianapolis), and a fun, somehow even more raucous version of “Contraption” (with bassist Tim Hellman being an absolute beast with his groove).
It was a set of many classic cuts from them, with noting newer than material released in 2018 (“C” from Smote Reverser, which closed the show). This might have been because they hadn’t played an Indianapolis show in a long time. Lead singer / guitarist John Dwyer apologized at the start for them not playing there in many years: “Hey, Indianapolis. I’m sorry we never come here but (drummer) Dan (Rincon) hates it…No, I’m only kidding. He hates that fucking joke.”
A much louder moment.
“I Come from the Mountain” (again, with a killer bass line from Hellman), “Tidal Wave,” and “Ticklish Warrior” were big hits with the crowd, and I was happy to hear old cuts like “I Was Denied” (from 2010’s Warm Slime, the first Osees record I bought) and “Meat Step Lively” (from 2009’s Help).
The pit, as you might imagine, was a sweatbox being in such a small space. I had to back out after “Tidal Wave” (almost halfway through the show) to avoid overheating and burning the rest of the few calories I had in me. I slugged down a big cup of tonic water and then spent the rest of the show out of the pit but within view of the stage. I overheard a woman, seeing them for the first time, say, “They’re playing all my favorites.”
Mikhail Galkin and Jay Anderson, sometimes known as Lammping, are a Toronto duo known for producing beats, combining genres, and making interesting, and sometimes weird, decisions that create intriguing music you feel like you’ve heard before…but you’re not sure.
Nowadays, the duo have released the first of four experimental EPs — Never Never, this one with rockabilly one-man-band Bloodshot Bill, whom John Waters once described as “Roy Orbison with a head injury.” Take someone like that and put them in a studio with trip-hop and psych-rock music producers and you get a fun record.
The opening title track alone, with its brush beats, looped saxophone, and upright bass is enough to stop you in your tracks as Bill sings / raps about an unexpected love connection. The somewhat melted guitar on the instrumental “Coconut” oozes into mind-melting beats. “One and Own” is a fun example of Waters’ “head injury” description of Bill as he sings about his girlfriend but sounds like he might be punch-drunk.
“0 and 1” is a fun instrumental trip-hop cut that would fit right onto a St. Germain or Air album. Bill’s vocals on “Won’t Back Down” sound like he’s trying to keep up a brave face while crying into his beer. The gooey, chewy beat loops and western guitar on the track are slick — especially the guitar solo. In a just and right world, the quirky instrumental “Anything Is Possible” would’ve been remixed by MFDOOM by now. The EP ends with “Nitey Nite.” You can just barely hear Bill’s backing vocal sounds in it, which give way to his whistling (which is sprinkled throughout the record) that sends us out with a grin.
The whole EP will keep you grinning. It’s a lot of fun and a great sign of things to come over the next three projects.
Here’s an interesting one. Ty Segall‘s sixteenth album, Possession, taps into Americana, 1970s groove rock, and some psychedelia to tell tales of people dealing with economic disparity, injustice, and finding meaning in the minuscule and simple.
“Shoplifter” is about Segall, working in a store, falling for and refusing to turn in a woman for stealing from the place because he knows she’s broke. The title track is a tribute to women tried and punished as witches and a skewering of those who did so. “Buildings” has a great bass groove and a great message about holding your head up during the daily grind (“Don’t stop tonight. You can make it all right. They say get up. You got what it takes to ride.”). The slightly off-key electric piano on this is a cool touch.
Remember me mentioning 1970s groove rock? You’ll hear it on “Shining” — a song about cruising in your convertible. “Skirts of Heaven” seems to be a tribute to hard-working moms (all of them). “Fantastic Tomb” is the story of a man who agrees to help with a burglary and ends up trapped in the house they hit…but he’s happy about it because he realizes he, like the rich man, doesn’t need “crystal, lace, vulgar paintings, too,” “a silver horse that looked right at you,” or “a big, empty bed covered in fur.” Segall’s guitars mix with slightly warped saxophone to good effect. Those guitars turn just the fuzz on “The Big Day,” a song encouraging everyone to stay strong in these strange times (“Love is here to stay. Don’t let them break us now.”).
“Hotel” might be a song about a prostitute who’s trying to find a way out of the business or one half of an illicit love affair looking to end something that’s become a an addiction. It mixes piano and drums to create a slightly panicked rhythm while string instruments portray the confused thoughts of the song’s main character. “Alive” pushes acoustic guitars to the front and blends them with slightly frantic string instruments to give you a sense of the anticipation / apprehension of the song’s main character.
Segall wraps up the album, and perhaps a vision of his career’s future, on “Another California Song.” He mentions, with the help of thick bass and fuzzy guitars, how, perhaps down the road no one will be calling him to record new music or tour (“Waiting on the studio. Hell, the landlord says I go to go. A star I was supposed to be. Now nobody’s calling me.”). It’s a fun, self-deprecating track Segall probably had fun writing.
The same goes for the whole record. Segall is enjoying his newfound role as a storyteller, and Possession is a fun story.
LA-based psychedelic rock outfit Tombstones In Their Eyespresents their brooding single ‘Under Dark Skies’, previewing their ‘Under Dark Skies’ album, to be released via Little Cloud Records (for North America) and Shore Dive Records (for the UK and EU). Without wallowing in self-pity and emotional upheaval, this song leans hopefully toward a new beginning in the understanding that sometimes the bottom is the best place to start.
Tombstones In Their Eyes is made up of John Treanor (vocals & guitar), Stephen Striegel (drums), Courtney Davies (vocals), Phil Cobb (guitar), Paul Boutin (guitar), Nic Nifoussi (bass) and Clea Cullen (vocals). What began casually a decade ago has evolved into a powerhouse band known for their expansive psychedelic soundscapes. For Treanor, these sonic explorations are like a cosmic therapy session – an immersive subliminal journey, as well as a way to grapple with anxiety.
This record was created during a year of intense personal change, followed by a clearing of the decks and a move forward into a place light and gratitude. Recorded and engineered by Paul Roessler (Josie Cotton, Nina Hagen, Hayley and the Crushers, Gitane Demone) at Kitten Robot Studios, this album was co-produced by John Treanor and mastered by multi-platinum engineer Alex DeYoung at DeYoung Masters (Michael Jackson, BTS, Macy Gray, The Linda Lindas, TSOL).
“’Under Dark Skies’ is essentially a prayer sent for a path forward from the darkness of the spirit into the light. When the spirit is crushed, a rebirth is possible but the way forward is not always obvious. I feel fortunate to have a creative outlet like music to deal with the chaos in my head. Having said that, fighting the urges for self destruction by self-soothing in harmful ways is still not easy,” says John Treanor.
“We live in a tough and harsh world that is also filled with beauty and joy. Finding beauty and joy is the goal. I’m aware that I have many privileges and do not discount that, but mental health challenges do not seem to discriminate. Finding strength and hope is a daily practice that I must undertake and writing these songs is one of the many ways that I cope. By expressing and sharing these feelings, I let go of the poison and seek connection with others.”
The single is now out everywhere, including Spotify, Apple Musicand Bandcamp, where the ‘Asylum Harbour‘ album can also be found on CD and on snazzy red vinyl. On December 5, the full ‘Under Dark Skies’ album will be released via Little Cloud Records (US) and Shore Dive Records (UK and EU).
Keep your mind open.
[I might feel like I’m under dark skies if you don’t subscribe.]
